Rockets, SparClones and Rebels look to start year with win

Rushville-Industry, Bushnell/West Prairie and South Fulton kickoff the 2014 season Friday night, hoping to get off to a strong start.The Rockets won their first two games last year, but dropped six straight, closing out the season 3-6.“You're always at a disadvantage Week 1, because you just really don't know wh...

Rushville-Industry, Bushnell/West Prairie and South Fulton kickoff the 2014 season Friday night, hoping to get off to a strong start.

The Rockets won their first two games last year, but dropped six straight, closing out the season 3-6.

“You’re always at a disadvantage Week 1, because you just really don’t know what the teams are going to throw at you,” coach Jon Hebb Hebb said. “You got film on them from the previous years, but things can change from year to year, depending on personnel and everything like that.”

Rushville-Industry looks to start this season with a win as well, taking on Havana at 7 p.m. in head coach Hebb’s debut.

“I know coach (Chad) Heffren is a good coach and a good guy,” Hebb said. “I’m sure he’ll have Havana prepared. We’re just trying to take it one day at a time and do as much as we can to be ready for anything.”

Havana has beaten RIHS six of the last seven years, including 40-20 a year ago. The lone for RIHS came in 2011 when the Rockets won 48-20.

For Bushnell/West Prairie, Friday is the start of a new era.

The newly formed co-op plays its first game, going on the road to face West Central at 7 p.m.

West Prairie has lost 38 straight football games as a program while B-PC has lost 25.

Heading into the game, coach Roy Gully III and his staff are doing their best to prep the team.

“I’m glad we had an extra week to prepare, there are a lot of things as a coach staff we need to keep hammering home and sharpen up,” Gully III said. “But, we’re also exited for kickoff and our first real game.”

South Fulton is also exited, as the Rebels host Beardstown for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Table Grove.

When it comes to prepping for Week 1, South Fulton coach Dave Wilson is more focused on his team.

“You look at what they’ve done in the past and try to make some general observations,” Wilson said. “But, really, it’s about us and trying to execute things we’ve been working on

“The thing I like about week one is we go out and play. We play somebody different and we really find out what we need to fix for sure for Week two.”

Beardstown has beaten South Fulton the last four years by a combined score of 161-42. That included last year’s 45-12 win at Beardstown.